Different Destines
by gallifreyGirl315
Summary: What if Neville had been chosen one? Starting with year 1, deviating more and more as the years go on.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I've always wondered how different the story might have been if Voldemort had chosen Neville instead of Harry to kill. Initially I tried to just straight swap, but it occurred to me so many things would be different. So I've set out to write that story. While many of the characters will seem familiar, many will be different, especially Neville and Harry. Also, some events will be similar, as some of outside forces will be the same, but I hope to create a new take on a familiar world. I don't own the universe, I'm just here to play.**

"Come on, Neville. The train leaves in 15 minutes." Augusta Longbottom dragged a very reluctant Neville towards Platform 9 ¾. He had only been in England for about 2 weeks, and now his grandmother was shipping him off to some school called Hogwarts. Neville and his Grandmother had been living in the States for most of his life. They had moved there when he was a small child after his parents had passed away.

"Do I really have to go to this school?" Neville spoke with an accent firmly planted in between American and English. He spent most of his time with his English-accented grandmother, but had also spent his formative years trying to blend in with his surroundings.

Augusta sighed, "Yes Neville." Truthfully, she was trying to avoid it. She had been hoping to send him to Muggle schools and be done with the past, but when Dumbledore himself showed up at her not as well hidden as she thought front door, she found that she had no choice. The pair were now at the trains, she turned to face her grandson, and bent down as much as her old body would let her. "I know that we haven't had much of a chance to talk…"

"More like you you didn't talk…" Neville snapped. His grandmother always avoided talking about the past. _Always forward._ She could hear her say any time he tried to ask about his parents or wizarding. Neville knew he was a wizard. He knew that he could do magic, but his grandmother described it as nothing more than parlor tricks, and a rare family trait. He tried out spells he found in the public library, but anytime his grandmother caught him trying magic she scolded him and stopped taking him to the library.

Augusta let out a sharp sigh, as he was not wrong, "I should have prepared you better for this. I am sorry, just…" She brushed his bangs out of his eyes, her thumb lingering on the lightning shape scar on his forehead. "You can trust Dumbledore. Make friends. Be happy and always forward." Augusta never thought she'd be one to try to outrun her history, but always forward had been the mantra she clung to as she worked past the death of her son and daughter-in-law.

"Okay." Neville honestly didn't know what else to say. Dumbledore was a strange man. He reminded Neville of Gandalf from the Hobbit books. But when he literally appeared in the living room with a loud pop, Neville learned two things. 1. Dumbledore was nothing like Gandalf, and 2. Magic was way more powerful than his grandmother ever lead him to believe. That was the exact moment the resentment began to set in. He didn't get to talk to Dumbledore for long before Augusta shooed him away.

"Just know that I did what I thought was right." She turned the boy around to face the train and sent him off with gentle push. Neville didn't think much on her words. He focused on the train in front of him. He got on, dragging his bag behind him.

As he walked down the narrow aisle of the train, he felt each cabin go quiet as he passed by their doors. Neville had felt something when he and his grandmother went shopping for the most bizarre school list he had ever encountered. The people, strange as they were in robes and funny hats, looked at him as though HE were the strange one. Neville finally found an empty cabin and settled into a seat. Not 5 minutes after he sat down, a girl with wild hair burst into his space.

"Have you seen a rat?" The girl asked, her abnormally large front teeth giving her the slightest lisp on her s.

"No, no rats here." Neville responded.

"You're American." The girl said rather plainly. "I didn't think Americans went to Hogwarts."

Neville felt oddly compelled to defend himself, "I'm NOT American, I just grew up there."

The girl's eyes widened suddenly, "You're Neville Longbottom."

Neville shifted uncomfortable, "Yes. How do you know?"

"Everyone knows your story. I should have recognized you sooner. Even a Muggle born like me knows who you are."

"Oh." His mind was racing. Why did people know him? His grandmother told him literally nothing. He could feel his resentment towards her growing into anger.

"Well, if you see a rat, his name is Scabbers. We are in cabin 8. Oh, and my name is Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you Neville." The girl turned on her heel and was gone in a frizzy flourish of hair. Neville was left alone. People knew his story. What story did he have? His parents died in a freak accident at work, and his Grandmother moved them to the states. His parents were cops, or at least that's what he was told. He began going over what little he did know about his history and wondered how much of it was a lie. Before he could examine his whole life in excruciating detail, three new sets of eyes stuck their head in the door.

"So you're Neville Longbottom." The green-eyed boy said.

"He doesn't look like much." the girl responded, her dark eyebrow raising.

"Can you sign my….. Uh… arm?" The red headed boy asked.

"Really, Ron? Your arm?" The girl looked at Ron with a skepticism.

He looked offended, "I didn't know it would really be him! I forgot to bring paper. If I knew he would be in our year I'd've brought his card to sign."

"Card?" Neville finally interrupted.

Ron pushed past the other two and plopped down next to Neville, "Yep. Your chocolate frog card! Every one famous has one." He reached into his pocket and handed Neville a card. "Here, I got another Dumbledore. You can have it."

Neville took the card from the over eager boy and watched as the grey bearded man waved before walking out of the frame. He had only ever seen one other picture move like that before. It was one of his parents he found in his grandmother's things. When he asked her about it, she dismissed it as one of those parlor tricks his family could do. "Do they all move like this?"

By now, the other two had entered the cabin and sat down across from Ron and him. "Yep, wizard pictures move. It's a thing. I'm Harry Potter, and this is my cousin Cedrella Black. We just met Ron. He seems alright"

"Ella." the girl interjected, "For the love of Merlin, Ella."

"She hates her name," Harry finished. "So I call her Cedrella at every opportunity I can." She punched him in the arm, "Ow. I'm telling your father."

"And what's he going to do? Give me a high five?" She snorted.

"Fair point." He responded.

"So what house are you hoping for?" Ella asked. "I think my dad will kill me if I end up in Slytherin, but I think I like it best."

"House?" Neville asked. He could barely get a word in.

Ron, who seemed to have an endless supply of candy in his pockets, responded through his chews, "Yeah, the Hogwarts houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. I'll be in Gryffindor. Everyone else in my family is."

"I reckon I will be too. My dad was in that house." A small frown flashed across Harry's face.

"I think you're a nutter to want to be in Slytherin." Ron said to Ella.

"Why would that be bad?" Neville asked.

"Slytherins are bad news. No one good came out of that house."

Before Ron could continue, yet another face appeared in the door. "What do we have here, a blood traitor, a half blood, and judging by the state of your clothes and that god awful red hair, you must be the next Weasley." The newest visitor stuck his hand out to Neville, "I'm Draco Malfoy. If you are looking for better friends, come find me. I'll be in Slytherin."

Neville reluctantly shook the blond boy's hand and answered non committally, "Uh yeah, sure." Draco was out the door as quickly as he entered.

"Ugh, so glad that part of the family disowned me." Ella rolled her eyes.

"I don't think they even know you exist." Harry responded.

"Well, either way. That kid's a git. And NOT what a slytherin should be." Ella nodded her head definitively, suggesting her word was absolute. Just then, the frizzy haired face of Hermione returned.

"We are almost to Hogwarts, I'd get in your robes." She paused, realizing who was in the cabin, rather than simply making the announcement she had taken upon her self to make. "RON!" she barked, "Did you find your rat?"

Ron jumped at the harshness of her tone, "Uh yeah, Ella sat on him for a minute. Its fine."

"Good." Hermione stated, "See you at the sorting ceremony. I'm hoping for Ravenclaw."

"My god that girl is intense." Ron exclaimed, mouth full, as the jolt of being yelled at made him forget to chew. His dumbfounded expression elicited chuckles from the whole cabin.

Neville found himself sitting in the biggest room he had ever seen, the ceiling seemingly endless and full of stars and floating candles. There were 5 long tables, each one coloured differently, with the exception of the 5th, the table that he and his new friends were sitting. Dumbledore had made a speech and stressed the importance that the 3rd floor wing was off limits. He then brought out a floppy brown hat. "Let the Sorting begin!" he had shouted, well not so much shouted, but rather said so loud everyone heard.

Much to Neville's surprise, the hat sprang to life as a tall thin woman began shouting the names of first year students. Before long he heard "Black, Cedrella." Ella groaned and stood up and walked to the front of the room. The hat was placed on her head and seemed to be having a conversation with her, though it was too quiet for anyone to hear. "SLYTHERIN" the hat suddenly shouted.

Ella made a small celebration and the table covered in green cheered as the girl made her way to the table. Neville watched with curiosity as the next several students were sorted, and then he heard it "Longbottom, Neville" A hushed whisper spread across the room as he made his way to the front. The hat was placed on his head, the brim nearly covering his vision.

"Oh my, I wondered when I would get to sort you," The hat spoke, although Neville wasn't quite sure it was his ears that heard the voice, but he did definitely understand. "Lets see here, there is some resentment here, be careful with that, perhaps Hufflepuff to help you… No that does not seem right. Maybe Slytherin.. Oh, what is this? Yes… Interesting, Well in that case… GRYFFINDOR" The hat shouted.

Neville hopped off the stool as the maroon table erupted into raucous cheering. He sat himself down at the table next to another first year and across from 3 red heads who looked startlingly familiar. Before long, both Ron, Harry, and Hermione, joined Neville at the table. Hermione looked a bit horrified as she sat down, but no one seemed to question her fear.

The sorting finished and the tables suddenly filled with food of all sorts and the students began to eat. Neville happily tried a little bit of almost everything, staying mostly silent, trying to glean as much as he could from the people around him. They chatted about upcoming classes, and speculated about what could possibly be on the third floor wing. Through dinner he had learned the names of three more Weasleys, and the rest of the first years. He probably wouldn't remember them come tomorrow, but he did learn them. Percy, Fred, George, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, and Parvati. Yeah, he knew he wouldn't remember all those names.

As the feast came to an end, he realised that he had not thought once about the fact that his grandmother lied to him for 10 years and shipped him off to an unfamiliar school full of wizards. It actually felt normal for a bit. That was nice.

Once Percy had led all the Gryffindor's to their dorm, Neville finally had a moment to think back on this "story" of his. He had been so caught up in the day, that he had barely thought about how the girl Hermione had said everyone knew his story. And that he had a chocolate frog card? It seemed to crazy.

He found Hermione in a corner of the common room with a book larger than her lap resting across her legs. Neville cleared his throat to attempt to get her attention. She was unstirred. "Hermione." He said quietly. Still not answer. He finally poked her, perhaps a bit harder than intended, in the shoulder.

"Ow. you could have just said my name you know" Hermione chastised as she rubbed her arm.

"I tried…" he started to protest, but then thought better of it. "I wanted to ask you what you meant when you said everyone knows my story."

"Well surely you know your story." she said as though it were obvious.

"Let's say I don't. Tell me my story"

Neville listened intently as Hermione told the tale of his childhood, and of his parents death. Or at least the story the public knew. She told him about You-Know-Who, leaning over and whispering his name in his ear, she told him about the wizarding war and how she, as a muggle born, would have been a target. She talked about how You-Know-Who came after Frank and Alice Longbottom in their homes, and how his parents fought to protect their son. And how when You-Know-Who went to kill him, it didn't work, and that he disappeared and hasn't been seen since. She finished her tale with a strange sense of impending doom, despite the calmness of the common room from which she told it.

Hermione stared at him expectantly. He wasn't sure what she was expecting so he simply thanked her and headed to his dorm bed. He reflexively reached to his forehead, rubbing the scar. He never really thought too much of where it came from, it was just always there. He now seemed suddenly very aware of its existence, it almost hurt. I guessed knowing where it came from somehow mattered now. And yet, it didn't. It didn't change anything. Knowing he defeated the greatest dark wizard that ever lived at the age of one didn't change the fact that his parents were dead. It didn't change the fact that his grandmother lied. It didn't change the fact he was suddenly an actual wizard. He nestled into his bed and sighed. This was his life now.

* * *

Neville spent the first month of school finally getting a grasp on the fact that magic was in fact real. He knew that, technically. He had always in the back of his mind knew his grandmother was discrediting his supposed family gift of parlor tricks, but he never had a reason to truly doubt her. Despite grasping the fact that it was real, he was having trouble grasping it. He figured he was behind because he didn't know about it until a few weeks prior, but when Muggle born Hermione so smugly corrected him on is pronunciation of Leviosa, he realised it was him that was struggling. Nevertheless, he enjoyed his classes, with the exception of potions. The professor, Snape, was a greasy man, and while he seemed to immediately hate both Harry and Ella, he didn't seem to like anyone else either. Neville apparently made a bad first impression by taking notes when he didn't need to be, which of course he thought was an absurd thing to get yelled at for. Which he pointed out, and subsequently got detention for it.

The other professor Neville didn't much care for was Professor Quirrell. He was a strange man, he didn't understand how someone so skittish could possibly teach a class with the word "defense" in the title. History was the worst of all. At first he thought having a ghost for a teacher was the coolest thing he'd ever heard of, but quickly learned that was not the case.

When Neville heard that the first years got to take flying lessons, he was probably the most exciting thing he had heard yet. After he got done having a chuckle at the fact that witches actually DO ride brooms, he realized it meant he would get to fly. Unfortunately for him, flying was not a thing for him. Before class started, Malfoy, the blond haired Slytherin, dared him to race. Malfoy apparently wanted the challenge of beating the "Boy-who-lived." Neville couldn't even manage to get off the ground without turning upside down like a sloth. When Malfoy wouldn't stop laughing, Harry stepped in to take on the dare. Unfortunately for Harry, the race led him by McGonagall's window. Fortunately, McGonagall saw something in Harry and had him added to the Quidditch team.

After what amounted to a particularly embarrassing day, Neville found himself wandering the school grounds. He stumbled across a small shack on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Peering in the windows, he was greeted by a rather large bearded man asking him what he was doing about. Neville quickly learned that the giant like man was named Hagrid. He was the school groundskeeper. There was something genuine about the man Neville found himself rather drawn to. Hagrid, and his little hut, became something of a refuge for Neville. While he had made friends, he felt rather on the periphery. Hagrid became a genuine friend. And when Hagrid happened to have a baby dragon hidden in his hut, Neville felt obligated to help him.

Neville enlisted the help of Ron, who had a brother who dealt in dragons, and Hermione in sneaking down to Hagrid's hut and helping him get the now medium dog sized dragon, off the Hogwarts grounds. He hadn't intended to involve Hermione, she just happened to over heard, and insisted that she should be a part to make sure that they didn't "break any more rules than absolutely necessary."

On the Trios way back to the Common room, the stumbled across Snape and Quirrell having a rather hushed conversation in the hallway. They all three were out well past curfew and did not want to be caught, so they simply waited in silence until they passed. What they weren't expecting is to overhear what they did. Quirrel was demanding that Snape tell him if it really was in the third floor wing. And how on earth to get past the defenses. Snape hushed Quirrell and told him to leave it up to him. Unfortunately the three of them had been spotted, or rather, heard when Malfoy, who had been following them, ran into a suit of armour drawing attention to all four of them.

Much to everyone's dismay, they all were punished with detention. All four of them were sent with Hagrid into the forest to look for clues for what was killing unicorns. Neville wondered how on earth being sent into the forest they weren't allowed to go into was a reasonable punishment, but he trusted Hagrid. While in the forest, they came across an amorphus being, feeding on an injured unicorn. Neville however, hardly could recall the incident because he had a very sudden and very painful headache that caused him to pass out in the middle of the woods.

While in the medical wing, Dumbledore finally made his first appearance to Neville. He had been at school for months, and this was the first time Neville had actually seen of the Headmaster. And all he did was ask him to describe his headache. He found this to be utterly pointless. Dumbledore muttered something about it being "interesting" and "curse scars" but by that point Neville was so annoyed with having to be in the medical wing at all, he gave up trying to figure out what the old man was on about.

* * *

A few weeks later, Neville ended up in the great Hall with Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ella. Ella, despite being a Slytherin, still ate dinner with her gryffindor cousin, despite the backlash. They were having a spirited debate about which Professor was the worst.

"Clearly Binns" Ron said.

"He's not that bad, just a bit boring maybe." Hermione offered.

"Wait, did Hermione Granger just call a Professor boring?" Ella exclaimed rather dramatically.

"Yes. History is far more interesting than he lets on. Did you know that in the Goblin Rebellions of 1392 that… "

"Oh thank god," Ella interrupted, "Hermione hasn't been bodysnatched." The table broke into laughter while Hermione blushed and trailed off.

"Snape is the worst. I don't know why he hates you and I so much." Harry offered as the laughter subsided. "He likes every Slytherin but he seems personally offended that you ended up in his house."

"Yeah, A few slytherins are to be honest. Malfoy definitely doesn't appreciate it. He calls me "blood traitor Black" at every opportunity. But we aren't here to complain about students!" Ella quickly changed the subject. "Have you heard that Snape used to work for You-Know-Who?"

"Dumbledore hired him though. He can't still be evil though right?" Neville asked.

"Probably not. He's still a git though." Ella responded. "How about Quirrell, he a strange one right?"

"OH I can't believe I forgot this!" Neville shouted. "Remember when Ron and Hermione and I got caught in the hallways, we overheard the two of them talking about the third floor wing and getting past the defenses."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Oh, do tell more."

Neville shrugged, "I guess I don't really have more, but it was definitely weird."

"Ohh I wonder if they are after what ever Hagrid got out of Gringotts." Ron offered up. Everyone turned to Ron with confusion. He seemed just as confused by everyone's confusion, "Oh, I guess I didn't say anything about that. A few weeks ago Hagrid mentioned being stressed out about an errand for Dumbledore. Something about a package from Gringotts. And then he did that thing he does when he's said more than he should."

"Since when do you spend time with Hagrid?" Neville asked. Its not that he was jealous, he just didn't think anyone but him enjoyed Hagrids company.

"I like his cookies?" Ron said.

"You like those things?!" Hermione scoffed, having been the only other person to have tasted Hagrid's attempts at baking.

Harry seemed lost in thought "What if Snape and Quirrell are working together to steal it?"

"It would be helpful to know what 'it' is." Ella equally lost in thought.

"Oh wait, I remember, Hagrid said something about poor Nicolas… Nicolas Flannel? I don't know" Ron recalled.

"Flammel?" Hermione asked, "as in Nicolas Flammel creator of the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Sure?" Ron confirmed.

"How cool would it be if that's really what it was!" Ella offered somewhat dreamily, that is until he caught the eye of her cousin. "Harry, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"You know what, I think I am…"

"No. No you are not. I won't allow it." Hermione demanded.

Ella rolled her eyes, "And what are you going to do about it?"

"I… I'll… I'll tell Dumbledore!" Hermione stuttered.

"What are you even planning?" Neville asked.

"I think we try to find out what's on the third floor wing." Harry said.

Hermione crossed her arms and huffed. "I want no part of this."

"Fine with me, lets go." Ella stood up and gestured, "Boys?"

The four of them headed toward the third floor. They were met with a poorly lit corridor with a solitary door at the end. The creeped towards the door, expecting something to jump out at any minute. When they reached the door, they glanced back and forth among themselves, trying to decide who should be the one. Ella finally grabbed the door and muttered something about "so much for Gryffindor courage" as she yanked it open. They were met with the hot breath of three heads. Before they even got out a shriek, the slammed the door shut and bolted down the hallway. They managed to end up just outside the library, despite all taking slightly different routes. Panting, they discussed the fact that SOMETHING was up in there.

After several more weeks of speculation, wild theories, and half hearted attempts to glean information from either Snape or Quirrell, the group had almost lost interest in the forbidden corridor and the three headed dog defending it. That is, until Quirrell burst into the Great Hall shouting about a TROLL IN THE DUNGEON. Harry and Neville immediately thought of Ella and the Slytherin dorm. But before they could take off to find her, they saw Snape head towards the third floor wing. Wordlessly, they decided to split up, Harry would look for Ella, and Neville would follow Snape.

Ron and Hermione ended up following Neville towards the third floor. They saw a flourish of robes disappear behind the door, convinced it was Snape after the stone. Ron and Neville knew what lay just beyond the door, and gulped as they slowly pried it open. An enchanted harp played in the corner and the beast snored away. Beneath a paw, they noticed a trap door, and down the Trio went.

* * *

When Neville Longbottom showed up at Hogwarts, he never expected he'd end up being the temporary owner of the Philosophers stone, or that he'd end up defeating You-Know-Who all over again. But, the year was coming to a close, and that was indeed his year. He also found a group of friends, true friends. They had managed to snag the house cup, for what apparently was the first time in quite a few years. Probably thanks to the Weasley Twins. He would be leaving in a few days, a full year of schooling behind him. He didn't want to face his Grandmother. He wanted to stay here, but that just wasn't possible. So home he would go. Unfortunately, home was still the states, so he knew he would be spending the summer far far away from his new found friends. He promised to write them, and they promised to return the favour.

Neville was finally beginning to know who he was, where he came from. And he wasn't going to let living with Augusta change that. He hoped so much that she'd start to be honest with him, but he didn't have very high hopes. Not to mention, he wasn't so sure the damage wasn't already done. In less than a week, it would be time to find out.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I don't own the universe, I'm just here to play. 3**

Neville had three days until he was to take an international portkey and head to Hogwarts. He hadn't gotten a single letter from a single friend. He was not surprised. He had never seemed to make friendships last when he thought he was just a "Muggle" why should be being a wizard change that. His grandmother was little to no help. She answered very few questions, and he learned no more than what Hermione told him. Her default response was "you are too young to understand why." He did learn that Frank and Alice, his parents, were in Gryffindor because Augusta gave him a tie that belonged to his father when she heard where Neville had been sorted.

When it came time for Neville to leave, he found himself feeling reluctant. Were his friends really that, his friends? They hadn't written him, why would they care if he returned? Augusta wished him a happy year, and that she'd see him in June. With that, he grabbed a hold of the broken lamp and felt a pull right behind his belly button… and he landed, well not where he was supposed to. He was told that the portkey was set to have him land in an obscure part of the Kings Cross, but he was instead in an entirely different station. He looked at his watch, the train was leaving in an hour, and he had no idea where he was. He wondered if his reluctance to leave influenced his destination.

Neville quickly figured out he was in London and just had to use the underground to get to Kings Cross. Unfortunately this adventure had taken longer than the hour he had. When he got to the brick wall between platform 9 and 10, running into the wall just resulted in him running square into the bricks. Shaking off the stun, he noticed he had caught the attention of a few people, but none enough to offer him help.

"Neville!" a voice shouted at him. He scanned the crowd for the source of the voice.

"Ella?" he was shocked to see her and Ron jogging towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we were all pretty worried when we realised no one had heard from you all summer. You didn't respond to anyone's letters, not even Hermione's Muggle mail. And then you didn't show up for the train, I decided to stay back and see what happened. Ron stuck around to keep me company."

Neville was stunned. He never got letters, and the ones he sent no one responded to. How on earth did they care, There wasn't time for that right now though, "How are we going to get to Hogwarts?"

Ella grinned in this lopsided smirk that was just a little bit terrifying. "Well, My dad and Harry's mum came in on his motorcycle for the day, and I know they parked it near by."

"And?" Ron asked

"We're gonna take it." She declared.

"Do you know how to drive that thing? And there are three of us, how is that going to work?" Ron panicked.

"Chill, it can't be that hard. Plus there is a side car."

And so Neville, Ella Black, and Ron Weasley arrived at Hogwarts on a flying motorcycle with a sidecar. Unfortunately their landing was not as smooth as they would have hoped. They had flown a bit too close to the whomping willow and the side car had separated from the bike, smashing itself and Ron to the ground, mere feet away from the Willow's reach. Neville and Ella got quite literally bucked off when they landed and they watched rather horrified as the bike went off into the forest of its own volition.

Ella had never gotten in trouble before, so when she got a howler at breakfast the next morning, she honestly had no idea how to react. Her father's voice boomed through the Great Hall, genuinely and truly furious with her. Neville had offered to write to her Sirius and try to apologise, but she said it wouldn't do any good. Still, Neville did what he could to make it up to her. Ron on the other hand, was used to a bit of shouting from his mother, but that didn't mean the Howler he got was any less awful.

Joining their little group of friends this year was yet another Weasley, the only girl of the group. Ginny. She had been a bit star struck around Neville, and he found her a bit strange. But he was his friends little sister, so he resolved to be nice to the girl.

"Hey, writing anything interesting?" Neville asked as he sat down next to Ginny on the sofa by the fire in the common room.

She quickly snapped the small black book shut, "Oh it's just…. I was… Um. School notes. You know."

"How are you finding classes?" he asked, realising he probably just caught Ginny scribbling their names with little hearts in her diary.

Ginny, still visibly nervous, "Oh they are good. Professor Lockheart is my favourite."

"Oi, you just think he's handsome." Ron said as he came up behind his sister.

"He's a world renowned author who has saved lives, Ron!" Hermione interjected, "We should be thankful to have him as our replacement for Quirrell."

Ron, rolled his eyes, "Women I swear." Ginny quickly and quietly excused herself from the group, holding her little black book tightly to her chest. Ron continued, "For as bad as she has it for Lockhart, she's got it worst for you mate."

"I'm just glad it's not me," Harry joined them, clearly sweaty from Quidditch practice. "She's so strange."

"Hey, that's my sister!" Ron said defensively. "Only I'm allowed to call her strange!"

"Yeah, whatever. So Malfoy has bought his way onto the Slytherin team. He and the team showed up with brand new Nimbus 2001s and kicked us off the pitch."

"Then how are you so smelly?" Neville grabbed his nose with a grin, teasing Harry.

Harry laughed, "You think Wood let us off that easy? We had to run laps."

"Oh, um," Neville started nervously, "I wanted to ask you guys something."

"Spit it out, I don't want to sit here next to Harry any longer." Ron said.

"I, uh, just was curious why you guys never wrote me back this summer." Neville continued, "I mean, it's fine, we are clearly friends it's just that I thought…"

Hermione cut him off, "YOU never wrote us back. I even sent you something Royal Mail in case the wizard way didn't work."

"Oh!" Neville said, almost regretting the accusation, "I never got anything either."

"My dad said international mail is unreliable." Ron offered.

"Makes sense I guess," Neville accepted the explanation, but he wasn't entirely convinced. He had no reason to doubt it, but something just felt off. "I'm gonna go to the library for a bit."

Hermione jumped up, "Oh I'll join you! I wanted to get a head in DADA."

"Lockhart already thinks you are the brightest witch of your age, Hermione. Bloody hell." Ron scoffed.

Neville and Hermione walked towards the library, Hermione had been talking since they left the common room about her Defense against the dark arts extra credit. Neville had all but tuned her out when they were interrupted by a loud pop and the sudden appearance of a small creature. He had never seen such a thing, with giant ears and huge eyes which were staring rather intensely at him.

"Oh no. No. Neville Longbottom was not supposed to return. Neville Longbottom is in great danger" the small creature exclaimed. He began to run in small circles hitting himself in the head with his palm. "Oh bad Dobby."

"Woah stop. Please. What are you talking about?" Neville asked.

"Are you a house elf?"Hermione questioned, before the creature could respond, "I've read about them! He looks like a house elf"

"Yes, Dobby is a house elf. And Dobby's master will be very mad Dobby is speaking with Neville Longbottom."

"Why would your master be mad at you for talking to me."

"Dobby tried to warn Neville, Neville is not safe at Hogwarts." Dobby began to hit his head against the wall. "Dobby is bad. Dobby tried to stop Neville from coming back, but he has failed."

"Please stop hurting yourself, just." Neville tried to calm the house elf with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Dobby stopped and stared at his hand in wonder, "A wizard has never been kind to Dobby. Dobby should not have kept Neville's friends from Neville."

Neville pulled his hand back. "You what?"

"Oh Dobby is a bad elf, Dobby kept his letters to make Neville think he did not have friends." Dobby went to hit himself once more but managed to stop himself. "Dobby changed his portkey so he miss the train."

"THAT WAS.." Neville paused. "That was your fault?"

Dobby seemed to twitch all at once, "Dobby's master calls for him. Dobby must go. Neville longbottom must go home. He is not safe here" And with another pop, Dobby was gone as quickly as he arrived. Neville stared at the space where the house elf once stood, trying to understand what just happened.

"I can't believe thats a house elf, those poor creatures." Hermione began talking at a mile a minute. "They are basically slaves! It's absurd. And did you see the way he flinched…"

"Hermione…" Neville started.

"... he clearly is abused by his Master. Blech. Master. I should do something about this. There is no reason wizards should…"

"HERMIONE."

"What?"

"I'm going back to the common room."

"But what about your homework? And I will need help researching house elf laws."

"You'll be fine without me." He started walking back towards the common room. So the fact that he didn't get letters WASN'T a fluke, someone was behind it. And when his portkey didn't work. But why. What about this year was unsafe. Before Neville could turn the corner, he heard Hermione let out a scream. He bolted back down the hall, nearly colliding with Hermione as he slipped on a puddle of water. "ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE" was painted on the wall in what looked like blood.

Over the next couple of months, several more attacks happened, in addition to Mrs Norris, Colin Creevy, Nearly Headless Nick, and Penelope Clearwater. By the third attack, it became obvious that the targets were muggle born, or half-blood witches and wizards. Around the school, the rumours flew. Most of the Slytherins were under suspicion, even Ella. Harry and Neville, on more than one occasion came to her defense when overhearing the whispers of fellow Gryffindors. Harry and Neville were convinced that Malfoy was behind the attacks. He had been one of the most vocal students against Muggleborns. He had even called Hermione a 'mudblood' to her face on more than one occasion.

Professor Lockhart announced the start of a dueling club. It came as no surprise that Ella, Ron, Harry, and Neville all wanted to sign up. Hermione of course came along as well. When Lockhart asked for volunteers, Neville found himself dueling Draco Malfoy. When the snake that Malfoy conjured was headed towards the crowd, Neville began to panic. The snake seemed to lock onto a second year Hufflepuff he couldn't recall the name of, but still, he urged the snake to go the other way. Neville _thought_ he said, "Go, shoo, leave him alone" but what he had actually said was a bizarre string of hisses and inhuman noises. When his classmates backed away from him, and Lockhart swooped in quickly calling an end to the first dueling club meeting, he still had no idea that he hadn't said "Go, Shoo, leave him alone." It was only when they had returned to the Common room and Ron attempted to repeat the bizarre string of hisses did Neville even know he didn't say what he had thought.

Over the next week, Neville could not walk through the halls with out sideways glances or whispers in his general direction. It seemed as though news of his "ability" had spread, and morphed into rumours that he was the Heir of Slytherin. He wanted to yell at everyone who looked at him with fear and skepticism, but Hermione so arrogantly pointed out, that would not help his case. He became desperate to prove his innocence.

Neville asked if Ella would be willing to sneak he and Harry into the Slytherin common room to spy on Malfoy. She tried to insist that she could do it alone, but Hermione mentioned she had read about a Polyjuice potion and that this seemed like a perfectly good reason to try to make it. Ron of course questioned her willingness to break rules to make it, but she simply insisted it was for the greater good. And so the plan was set. They started making Polyjuice potion in Moaning Myrtle's secret bathroom and Ella would get the hairs off of Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson.

The day the potion was complete, the four of them were in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, preparing to drink the polyjuice potion. Each of them took a stall to drink the potion and get changed into Slytherin robes. In Neville's stall, he found a small black book that resembled the diary that Ginny had been writing in, so he pocketed it with the intention of giving it back to her after they were done. After a few moments, the three immerged, now looking the part of three Slytherins.

"You guys ready?" Ella asked, looking them up and down as they all fidgeted in their new forms.

"Yeah…" Neville said, in Crabbe's much lower voice, "woah that's weird."

"I wonder what I sound like…" Harry spoke as Goyle, "Yep. Weird, 'Mione?"

"Uh yeah, you guys go ahead, I'll catch up" She responded, in Pansy's voice.

"I'll let the boys in and wait for you, okay?" Ella headed towards the door, motioning for them to follow.

Hermione glanced at herself in the mirror, running her hands through her now black, sleek hair. She let out a hefty sigh, "Come on Hermione, you can do this. You are a Gryffindor, and Gryffindors are brave." She crouched down, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach. Below the sink, she took note of an intricate pattern of what looked like snakes. She also noticed the mildew of which she was very close too. Quickly standing back up she used her momentum to get her the rest of the way out of the door and onto the dungeons.

Walking quickly, in a most likely feeble attempt to catch up, she continued her mantra softly under breath _You are a Gryffindor, Gryffindors are brave._

"Talking to yourself, Pansy? Careful. Some one might think you've been hanging out with Loony Luna" Draco Malfoy said as he came up beside her.

Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin. It took everything she had not too hex him, but as she met his gaze, she didn't see the Malfoy scowl she expected, instead there was something else, something a little kinder. "Uh. yeah."

Draco looked at her puzzled, "What, no sharp comeback? You feeling okay Parkinson?"

Hermione panicked, the ruse was up, but before she could stop herself, "At least no one thinks we are related, with those matching locks of yours"

"Oi, just because one bloody Hufflepuff asked doesn't mean anyone else thinks it!" Draco retorted, with just the tiniest hint of feigned offence.

Hermione breathed a giant sigh of relief. She had no idea how she managed to pick the one thing that was actually relevant she will never know, but in that moment she didn't care. When they turned the corner, Ella was standing just outside the door Hermione noticed the briefest flash of dread across her face. Hermione did her best to send some sort of silent signal to her that everything was okay.

"Hey, Black. Did you forget the password again?" Draco asked.

"Nope, just uh…" She trailed off.

"Was waiting on me!" Hermione jumped in.

Draco raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else. Ella said the password and the three entered the common room.

"Crabbe, Goyle. Here." He barked, the scowl Hermione was more familiar with returning to his pale face. The so called Crabbe and Goyle shared a short glance and approached Draco. They simply stood, unsure of how to actually act around him. "Are you finished with my Transfigurations homework?"

"I did your homework?" Harry/Goyle asked before he could think about his words.

Draco scoffed, "No you oaf, are you done copying mine? I'd like it back now."

"Uh yeah." He answered, not wanting to say more than he had to, since he already almost faltered.

"So, uh, have you heard anymore about the Chamber?" Neville/Crabbe asked tentatively.

If Draco thought the question was odd, he didn't show it. "No. I asked my father if he knew who the heir was, but he said to not worry about it."

"It's not you?!" Neville nearly shouted without thinking.

"No, you moron. I told you already. I just know it was opened before. Over the holidays, I overheard my mother talking with someone one a floo call. She said something about it the 'last time it was open' but that was it."

"Um, I think I left my bag in the Library." Neville said before quickly heading toward the door trying to signal to Hermione to abandon ship.

"Uh, me too" Harry said, following Neville's lead.

"Library? Since when do you two go to the LIbrary?" Draco puzzled, but the three were out the door before anyone could respond.

The three had barely gotten out of the common room before they all started to feel the bubbling on their face and in the stomachs, signalling the end of the polyjuice potion. Running away from the entrance to the Slytherin common room as fast as they could, they got to the main staircase, panting from the sprint.

"Blimey that was a close one" Harry spoke, "Let's get back to the common room."

* * *

Neville was beyond frustrated that Draco was not the heir. While there hadn't been any attacks in a while, the threat was still looming over everyone's mind. He was thankful that the rumour of him being the heir had died down, but he knew they weren't totally gone.

A few days after their Slytherin common room adventure, found the little black book he thought belonged to Ginny in his pocket. When he tried to return it to her, she very vehemently denied that it was hers. Neville was almost certain that it was, but when she told him to flip through it and found it empty he had no choice but to believe her. When she suggested that he just throw it away though, he did not listen, It was a perfectly good notebook, so he opted to keep it. What he was not expecting, was the notebook to write back.

The book, which was either named Tom, or once belonged to Tom, Neville wasn't quite sure, responded to him as he wrote. It was mostly conversational, charming, and just a little bit encouraging. He started using it to talk out his theories on the chamber and the heir. Neville had found that his friends were somewhat tired of his ranting and raving about it, mostly because there hadn't been an attack in quite some time. But he knew he couldn't stop searching. Hermione was the only one who would occasionally listen, and even then he thought it was only because it meant that someone was paying attention to her.

Neville showed the diary to her, though it would not respond to her the way it did to him. He assumed it had something to do with him being the "owner" of the journal, but he honestly wasn't sure. One day while Hermione and he were talking about the chamber, Hermione rather suddenly said she had an idea, and that she needed to get to the library.

Hermione's sudden disappearance kicked off what would be the start of the end of the puzzle that was the Chamber of Secrets. She never made it back from her venture to the library, she was instead the next victim of the heir. Petrified, with a mirror in one hand and a crumbled up paper with the word "pipes" and "Myrtle's bathroom sink" in the other.

This was apparently enough to force the Ministry to remove Dumbledore, and arrest the original opener of the Chamber, none other than their very own Hagrid. Neville and Ron were on their way down to his hut to tell him about Hermione as he was being dragged away. He shouted something about following spiders. It was there in the Forbidden Forest that Neville and Ron met Aarog, a giant spider, and learned about a creature called a Basilisk. This knowledge made the crumbled up paper in Hermione's hand make sense.

Neville quickly put it together and he and Ron headed to the bathroom where Hermione and made the polyjuice, but along the way they were interrupted by the pesky professor Lockhart. Neville, not expecting Lockheart to believe him, told him the exact truth, that they were on their way to open the chamber and stop a Basilisk, but to his surprise, Lockhart said lead the way.

They found the entrance and found themselves in a damp and eerie chamber. Lockhart decided that this was good enough, and made a speech about his fraudulent life and that he would modify their memories and be the hero once more. But the fall into the chamber had left his wand broken, and the memory spell backfired, leaving him unconscious, and no longer aware of who he was.

Inside the chamber, Neville found himself face to face with the embodiment of his, and as it turns out, Ginny's journal. Tom Marvolo Riddle had began to come alive from the pages of his journal at the expense of Ginny's innocent life force, her body crumpled on the floor of the cave. Tom Marvolo Riddle revealed himself as the original opener of the chamber, and that he was none other than Lord Voldemort himself.

* * *

Neville Longbottom never expect that he would defeat Lord Voldemort not once, not twice, but three times by the time he was 13. Though, to be fair, he didn't know he had defeated him even once until barely more than a year ago. But he had. He had killed the Basilisk, and destroyed the journal, which somehow killed the almost-reincarnation of Lord Voldemort as a youth. Ginny was getting better, Lockhart was not.

It had turned out that Lucius Malfoy was involved, leading Neville to believe that his son was as well, but he could not prove it. But what he could do was free Malfoy family elf, Dobby. Which he did, much to Hermione's pleasure.

So Neville was returning home to his grandmother and the states, happier and more confident in both himself, and his friend ships. He hated that he had to spend the next three months away from them, and away from the school he called home, but he would be back again soon. And that was all that mattered to him.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading so far! Sorry if the last half of this felt sort of rushed, I had gotten to the point where it was more or less the same as the books, and I'm not interested in writing something that already exists and you already know. From here on, the story will deviate more, the years will get longer, and we will get to know the characters as they are in this universe a little more. This was just a familiar foundation to get this story started.

I hope you are enjoying it so far!


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